Arraignment set in Waller murder

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, August 13, 2008

HEMPSTEAD - The 155th Judicial District Court of Texas has set an Aug. 21 arraignment date for Christopher Jones, the 28-year-old male recently charged with murder in the city of Waller.

Jones was arrested by the Waller Police Department and charged with murder in the first degree. If convicted of this felony charge, Jones faces a five- to 99-year or life sentence, according to Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis.

After assigning defense attorney Calvin Garvie, the court scheduled the arraignment, allowing Jones time to confer with Garvie. The arraignment will take place in the 155th Judicial District Court with Judge Dan R. Beck presiding, according to the public docket. At that time, Jones will enter his plea.

On the evening of Friday, June 20, Jones was arrested in connection with an aggravated assault, after Waller police responded to the 100 block of Alliance Street to investigate a report of two men fighting.

During the initial investigation, the WPD officer found Jones standing near severely injured 44-year-old Don Walker, Jones’ reported brother-in-law. Walker received trauma to the head, later found to be caused by a metal bat, and was air-lifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

The charge was later changed to murder after Walker died at Memorial Hermann Hospital, and Jones was indicted for murder in July.

According to Mathis, Jones also has two lesser charges against him, from a previous offense. On June 13, a grand jury indicted him for theft, a felony charge carrying a six month to two-year sentence in the state jail system.

At the same time, Jones was indicted for impersonating a public servant, a felony charge carrying a two- to ten-year sentence in the state penitentiary.

In the earlier incident, Jones allegedly confronted two men in the city of Waller, wearing a badge around his neck and stating that he was a police officer. He reportedly handcuffed the men, acting as if he were arresting them, and took their money under this guise.